Time recorder mechanism



Aug. 29, 1939. E. G. STRECKFUSS TIME RECORDER MECHANISM Filed Nov. 20,1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. ELMER G' 577?:-

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Aug. 29, 1939. E. G. STRECKFUSS 2,171,157

TIME RECORDER MECHANISM Filed NOV. 20, 1935 2 SheetsSheet'2 IN VEN TOR.

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v Patented Aug. 29, 1939 1 I -UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIME RECORDERMECHANISM Elmer G. Streckfuss, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to TheCincinnati Time Recorder Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Application November 20, 1935, Serial No. 50,683

9 Claims. (01. 234-43) My invention relates to time recorders, andnisms, with parts of the framework removed for more particularly tocertain mechanisms therein greater clarity. which have for their purposethe indication of Figure 2 is an elevational view of the lost mowhetherthe time punched is in or out time. tion device which insures a completeoperation 5 Such indication may be made in various ways, of the blockand ribbon mechanisms before a 5 of which I have illustrated anddescribed two. record is made, as seen from the left of Figure In one ofthese, a two color ribbon is used, and 1, with parts of the frameworkremoved for means are provided to shift the ribbon so as ingreaterclarity. dicate out time in a different color than in Figure 3 is anelevational view of the ribbon time. In another there is provided amovable shifting mechanism as seen from the right of type block, adaptedwhen in one position to print Figure l with parts of the frameworkremoved in, and in another to print "out. It may even for greaterclarity. be desirable to provide both types of indications, Figure 4 isa front view of an exemplary card so that, in time will be marked in andbe with six time records. 1 printed in black, while out time will bemarked Figure 5 is a similar view of a card with seven out and beprinted in red. Both mechanisms time records. are actuated in the sameway, and it is there- Briefly in the practice of my invention I proforea matter of choice whether one or both invide a time recorder of thenotch cutting type, dications are used. The use of .both indications,which is described and claimed in United States 0 however, provides anadditional safeguard Patent No. 1,731,550, dated October 15, 1929, inagainst tampering with a view to obtaining a my name. In this type ofrecorder a small notch false impression on the card. is cut in a lowercorner of the card at each re- Normally the first time printed on thecard cording operation at a point just above an abutwill be in time, thesecond will be out time, ment which serves to locate the card. By thesethe third, in time again, and so forth. For this means the card comes torest in the recorder 5 reason it is desirable to provide means wherebyat a lower point each time, during any one day, the mechanisms will beso set that the words whereby the time records on the card are in "inand out and the colors red and black will the normal position forsubtraction by the timebe printed alternately on each card. keeper. Iemploy this change of position of With the above factors in mind, it isan object the card to put into operation the shifting mech- 30 of myinvention to provide mechanism for a time anisms as will hereinafter bedescribed. This recorder whereby a two-color ribbon will be recorder isalso of the shifting tray type, disshifted for alternate impressionsupon a card, closed and claimed in United States Patent to and wherebysuch shifting will be accomplished Yates, No. 1,689,905, dated October30, 1928, automatically. wherein the card tray shifts laterally eachday, 35

It is another object of my invention to provide and after the last shiftreturns automatically to mechanisms whereby the first, third, and otherthe initial position. It is of course understood odd numberedimpressions upon a card for a that the type of machine to which myinvention given day will be marked in, and whereby the may be applied isnot limited to the specific type even numbered impressions will bemarked out, which I have above described, and that this type 40 andwhereby these mechanisms will be fully of machine has been selected forpurposes of 11- automatic,- lustration only.

Further it is an object of my invention to pro- In the drawings, Iindicates the hammer shaft, vide means actuated by the individual cardat 2 the card tray, and 3 the rod upon which the alternate registrationsto put into operation the card tray is shiftably mounted. Immediatelybe- 45 devices above referred to. hind the card tray 2 is the ribbonguide 4, which These and other objects of my invention which is mountedupon the frame member 5 for slid- F will be set forth hereinafter orwill be apparent able vertical movement. A shaft 6 which is oscilto oneskilled in the art upon reading these speclated by the operating handleat each recording ifications, I accomplish by that certainconstrucoperation, is provided with two rearwardly ex- 60 tion andarrangement of parts of which I shall tending arms 1 and 8, which areconnected by a now describe a preferred embodiment. Refercross bar 9.The punch mechanism and the ence is now made to the drawings which forma means for locating the card are mounted on a part hereof and in which:carriage 5|, which carriage is slidably mounted Figure 1 is aperspective view of the mechaon the shafts l and 6. Movement of thecarriage 55 is accomplished by means of the lever 52 and is proportionalto the movement of the card tray 2. The lever 52 is pivoted at its lowerend in a lug on the frame of the machine and is connected to thecarriage 5| by means of a screw 5|a extending through the slot 52a. Atits upper end the lever 52 is linked to the card tray 2. Thus anymovement of the card tray 2 produces a decreased but proportionalmovement of the carriage 5| through the action of the lever 52.

The carriage 5| carries a die plate 53 and a rocking punch plate 54pivoted, thereon at 55. The plate 53 moves in a path just below and justoutside of the lower mouth of the card tray. In the machine illustratedthe punch plate may be actuated by the cross bar 9 through the link 5'6.

To determine the vertical position of the card a stop lever 51 iscarried by the bracket 58 which is fixed on the carriage5l. .One edge ofthe punch plate overhangs the stop lever 51 so as to cut away the card adefinite amount directly above the lever.

All the above described mechanisms are found in the patents abovereferred to and form no part of this invention. They are mentioned onlyin order to assist one skilled in the art in orienting himself as to thelocation of my novel mechanisms with respect to the rest, of themachine.

I have pivoted on the shaft 5 a pair of arms l0 and II, which areconnected at their extremities by the rods I2 and I3. This assembly isurged in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Fig- ;,ures 1 and 3,by a small spring l4, which is atta'ched to the shaft by means of a hookI5. Be-

tween the rod l2 and the shaft l5, which carries some of the'gears forturning the time wheels, I suspend a linkage comprising the members I1,I8, and I9. Mounted upon the link I1 is a follower member 20, which maybe adjusted toward the right or left'as seen in Figures 1 and 3, bymeans of the screws a and the slot 201). The follower member 20 extendsdownwardly to the extent that it is urged by the spring l4 against thecross bar 9.

Riveted or otherwise fastened to the movable card tray is a smallbracket 2|, to which the ears 22 of a pin carrier 24 are hinged by thepin 23. At its end farthest removedfrom the hinge, the carrier 24 bearsapin 25. On its rear side, the carrier 24 bears 9. lug 26 through whichthe rod |2 passes. The operation of this part of the mechanism is asfollows: When the operator pulls on the operating handle 49, the shaft 6and and therefore the members 1, 8, and 9 are rocked in acounter-clockwise direction as seen in Figures 1 and 3 if there is noobstruction to the forward movement of the pin 25, the tension in thespring M will urge the assembly ||J-l||2--|3|1 |8-|9--20 toward the leftas seen in Figures 1 and 3, the member 20 following the rod 9; if,however, the pin meets with an obstruction such as an imperforate card,the pin 25 cannot move forward, with the result that the member 20 willnot be permitted to follow the rod 9 under tension of the spring l4, andthe linkage l1'|8-|9 will remain in the position shown. ,1

Toward the rear of the frame member 5 is journaled a cross shaft 21,which is adapted .to be urged by spring 34 in a clockwise direction asseen in Figures 1 'and 3, as will hereinafter be described. Movement ofthe shaft 21 is adapted to rock the shaft 28 through the linkage 29-3|.I3|. It will be noted that the curved link 29 passes underneath themember I9. The member I9 is provided with a trigger portion i9a, whichis adapted to abut a small lug 29a on the member 29 which projects intothe path of the trigger |9a. The connection between this part of themechanism and that just described will now be clear; when the linkage|1-|8|9 is permitted to swing to the left, the trigger |9a will clearthe lug 29a, permitting the link 29 to rock upwardly, thereby rockingthe shaft 28 in a clockwise direction.

Before proceeding to a description of the mechanisms actuated by therocking of the shaft' 28, I shall briefly describe how the shaft 21 isrocked upon manipulation of the operating handle. Referring to Figure 2,which is a view looking at the other end of the shaft 21, when theoperating handle 49 is actuated, the rod 32 is moved in the direction ofthe arrow. The end of the rod 32 is bent over at right angles to theplane of the drawings and passes through the slot 33a in the lever 33,which is loosely mounted on the G 33 will be rocked in acounterclockwise direction. Now if the trigger |9a has been moved out ofthe way of the lug 29a, by reason of the fact that the pin 25 did notmeet with an obstruction, the. tension of the spring 34 will cause thearm 35, which is fast on the shaft 21, to rock in a counter-clockwisedirebtion as seen in Figure 2, or clockwise, as seen in Figures 1 and 3The end 33b of the lever 33 is connected by means of the rod 50 tocertain parts of the time-wheel aligning mechanism as described in thepatents above mentioned. It will be noted by reference to theaforesaidpatents, that the shaft 6 begins to rock as soon as the operating leveris depressed, that'is, at the same instant that the rod 32 begins tomove. The purpose of the slot 33a, therefore, is to permit the trigger|9a to clear the lug 29a,

provided there is no obstruction to the forward movement of the pin 25,before the shaft 21 is rocked. If the pin 25 meets with an obstruction,the arm 35 will not follow the arm 33, but the latter is permitted tocontinue to perform its function by the extension of the spring 34.

UP'IO this point, the mechanism is the same whether only the ribbonshift is to be used, or only the shifting in and on printing block,

or both. Referring now to Figure 1 for a description of the printingblock shifting mechanism, fixed on the shaft 28 is an arm 38, to the endof which is fastened a member 36. The lower end of the member 36 isprovided with an inverted U-shaped slot 3617 which is adapted to ride ona bushing 31a on the shaft 31, which carries the time printing wheels.Formed on the lower end of the member 36 adjacent the slot 36b is the inand out printing block 36a, which is normally positioned to print in.Upon motion of the mechanism as described hereinabove, the shaft 28 willrock in a clockwise direction, elevating the arm 38 and the block 3611,which will then come into position to print out.

In Figure 3 I have shown the ribbon guide 4 fastened to the frame member5 by screws 4a which pass through vertical slots in the guide, wherebythe guide 4 is capable of vertical shifting. In this case I provide anarm 39 similar to arm 38, which is connected by the link 40 to the lever4| which is fixedly mounted on the shaft 31. Front end of'the lever 4|projects into a slot 4|a in the ribbon guide, so that as the shaft 28 isrocked in a clockwise direction,'the lever 4| is 0" nth 1 5, I haveillustrated two exemplary cards upon which several recordings have beenmade. It will be noted that the cards are provided with perforations 42,and that these perforations are spaced apart vertically the distance oftwo notches, one notch being the difference between the notches 43 and46. It is to be understood that the long notch 44 represents actuallyfour notches in succession, the notch 45 is really two notches insuccession, and the notch 48 is three notches in succession. Furthermorethe first perforation at the bottom of the card is so spaced that itdoes not come into operative position until the second recording, whenthe first notch has already been out. The operation of the card is this:when a new card is inserted into the tray 2, it is so positioned thatthe pin 25 abuts the card between the bottom edge and the firstperforation 42 a record is then made and the first small notch is cut,but in the meantime the pin 25 cannot move forward and a normal recordtakes place; the next time the card is inserted for record, it will bepositioned one notch lower in the tray 2 as a result of the notch whichwas cut in it by the previous recording, which will enable the mi 25 topass through the lowest perforation 42 and cause the record to be markedout", or be printed in a different colored ink, or both; the third timethe card is inserted, there will be a repetition of the first time, andso forth, so that the record will be printed in and out, or red'andblack, or both, alternately. It is of course understood that on thefollowing day the card tray is automatically shifted to print in thenextcolumn, and a new series of notches is started. In Figure 4, fourrecords were made the first day, and two the second; if two more recordswere to be made on this card, there would appear a single notch doublethe width of notch 44. The notches need only be wide enough to providean abutment portion.

It is to be understood that the type of machine upon which my novelmechanisms are used forms no limitation upon my invention, and theparticular machine here described was merely selected for purposes ofexemplification, and that different forms of my preferred embodiment maybe made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a time recorder of the class described having an operating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray to position a cardin one of a succession of positions, the combination of a two-color typeribbon which normally occupies a position to print one of said colors,mechanism tending to shift said ribbon to a position to print the otherof said colors after a predetermined degree of movement of said handle,and means operable at alternate positions of said card in said tray asdetermined by said first mentioned means to release said mechanismwhereby said ribbon is shifted to a position to print the other of saidcolors. 4

2. In a time recorder of the class described having an operating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray to position a cardin one of a succession of positions, the combination of a reciprocabletype block adapted in one position to print a symbol, and in anotherposition to print a different symbol and normally occupying a positionto print one of said symbols, mechanism tending to shift said block to aposition to print the second mentioned symbol after a predetermineddegree of movement of the operating handle, and means operable atalternate positions of said card in said tray as determined by saidfirst mentioned means, to release said mechanism, whereby said typeblock is shifted to a position to print said second mentioned symbol.

3. In a time recorder of the class described having means for making arecord and mechanism for changing the character of said record, anoperating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray toposition a card in one'of a succession of positions, said card beingprovided with a row of perforations spaced apart twice the distance ofdisplacement of the card in the tray for successive recordings; a pin,and means for urging it against said card upon operationof said handle,so that it will pass into one of said perforations when the card is sopositioned that one of the perforations is in registry with said pin,said pin adapted upon entry into one of said perforations to enable saidmechanism to function for the purpose of changing the character of therecord.

4. In a. time recorder of the class described having an operating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray to position a cardin one of a succession of positions, said card being provided with a rowof perforations spaced apart twice the distance of displacement of thecard in the tray for successive recordings, and a two-color type ribbon;a pin, and means for urging it against said card upon operation of saidoperating handle, so that it will enter one of said perforations whenthe card is so positioned that one of them is in registry with said pin,and means operative upon entry of the pin into one of said perforationsfor shifting said ribbon.

5. In a time recorder of the class described having an operating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray to position a cardin one of a succession of positions, said card being provided with a rowof perforations spaced aparttwice the distance of displacement of thecard in the tray for successive recordings, and a symbol type block; apin, and means for urging it against said card upon operation of saidoperating handle, so that it will enter one of said perforations whenthe card is so positioned that one of them is in registry with said pin,and means operative upon entry of the pin into one of said perforationsfor shifting said symbol type block.

6. In a time recorder of the class described having means for making arecord and mechanism for changing the character of said record, anoperating handle and a card tray and means in connection with the trayto position a card in one of a succession of positions, said card beingprovided with a row of perforations spaced apart twice the distance ofdisplacement of the card in the tray for successive recordings; a pin,and means for urging it against said card so that it will enter one ofsaid perforations when the card is so positioned that one of them is inregistry with said pin, an abutment to restrain the movement of said pinbut which is retracted upon actuation of said operating handle to permitmovement of said pin, said pin upon entry into one of said perforationsadapted to enable said mechanism to function for the purpose of changingthe character of the record.

7. In a time recorder of the class described having an operating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray to position a.card in one of a succession of positions, the combination of a two-colortype ribbon which normally occupies a position to print one of saidcolors, mechanism actuated by said operating handle through a delayedaction connection tending to shift said ribbon to a position to printthe other of said colors, and means operable at alternate positions ofsaid card in said tray to release said mechanism whereby said ribbon isshifted to a position to print said other color.

8. In a time recorder of the class described having an operating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray to position a cardin one of a succession of positions, the combination of a reciprocabletype block adapted in one position to print a symbol, and in anotherposition to print a different symbol and normally occupying a positionto print one of said-symbols, mechanism actuated by said operatinghandle through a delayed action connection tending to shift said blockto a position to print the second mentioned symbol, and means operableat alternate positions of said card in said tray to release saidmechanism whereby said type block is shifted to a position to print thesecond mentioned symbol.

9. In a time recorder of the class described having an operating handleand a card tray and means in connection with the tray to-position a cardin one of a succession of positions, said card being provided with a rowof perforations spaced apart twice the distance of displacement of thecard in the tray for successive recordings, a reciprocable type blockadapted in one position to print a symbol, and in another position toprint a different symbol and normally occupying a position to print oneof said symbols, and a twocolor type ribbon which normally occupies aposition to print one of said colors; a pin, and means for urging itagainst said card upon operation of said'operating handle, so that itwill enter one of said perforations when the card is so positioned thatone of them is in registry with said pin, and means operative upon entryof said pin into one of said perforations to shift said type block to aposition to print said second mentioned symbol, and to shift said typeribbon to a position to print the other of said colors.

ELMER G. STRECKFUSS.

